Conveyer.



J. ASHFORD. GONVEYFJI. APPLICATION rmm 0012.29. 1901.

azgu/M ms mmms PETERS co, wAsnmardu, n. c

Patented June 8,1909'.

10 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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J. ASHFORD. cormmm APPLICATION IILBD OCT. 39. 1907.

J. ASHE 0RD. OONVBYEB. APPLICATION man 001.29. 1907.

Patented June 8, 1909.

10 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

THE NORRIS PETERS cm, wAsHma'roN. a. c.

J ASHFORD. UONVEYER.

APPLICATION IILED 001229. 1907. 924,30 3c' I Patented June 8, 1909.

10 SHgETS-SHBET 6.

me NORRIS PETERS 0a., wasumsrou, o.c.

J. ASHFORD.

GONVEYER.

AIPLIGATION mum 00129. 1901.

Patented June 8,1909. 7

10 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

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n4: NORRIS FE J. ASHPORD. GONVEYER.

APPLICATION I'ILED 00129, 1907. 924,303.

Patented June 8,1909.

10 SHEETS-SHEET 'l.

THE Nonnrs PETERS ca, WASHINGTON, n. cy

J. ASHFORD.

GONVEYEB.

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WITNESSES THE NORRIS PETERS cc WASHINGTON, n. c.

J. ASHPORD. comnmnu AP PLIGATION FILED OUT-29; 1907. 924,303.

Patented June 8, 1909.

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WW Z THE NORRIS PETERS CO..'WASHINGYON. o. c:v

unrrn FEEQE.

JOHN ASHFORD, OF AMRITSAR, INDIA.

GONVEYER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 8, 1909.

Application filed. October 29, 1907. Serial No. 399,732.

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that I, JOHN ASHFORD, asubj ect of the King of Great Britainand Ireland,

and residing at Amritsar, Punjab, India, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in and Relating to Conveyers.

This invention relates to conveyers and more particularly to the typeemploying a fixed aerial Wire along which the skips or buckets are drawnby a running wire or cable.

The principal object of the invention is to arrange the supports for thefixed aerial wire so that sufiicient tension may be placed on the wirewithout the supports being fixed or anchored to the ground, whereby thewhole plant is rendered readily portable.

Further objects of the invention are to increase the carrying capacityof the plant by increasing the number of skips or other receptaclesforthe material, that can be loaded and despatched in a given time, andalso to provide means whereby the loaded skips are automaticallydespatched at suitable intervals without danger of collision.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved device forautomatically gripping and releasing the running wire or cable to andfrom the skip or other receptacle.

The invention briefly comprises a fixed rope or wire which is dividedinto a number of comparatively short lengths the ends of which are ledover supporting pulleys or guides conveniently arranged on portablestandards and down to suitable winches or like devices for applyingtension to the wire or rope. By this device the intermediate standardsare balanced, as near as is desired, by the pull of the wire on eitherside and the tension on the end standards is only equal to that due tothe Weight of the rope and skips on the last span so that these also maybe mounted on wheels.

The invention further comprises the arrangement of two or more hoppersand chutes at any desired loading point, to which the skips or the likeare successively guided by means of branch lines and, after beingfilled, are despatched in order and return to the main line or wire. Toprevent the simultaneous despatch of two skips from their fillinghoppers, interlocking means are provided by which the loading anddespatching mechanism at any one hopper is retarded in action until thepreviously loaded skip has been despatched.

Another feature of the invention is the gripper on the skip or the likewhich consists of two rollers arranged so that a tapered space existsbetween them and into which the running rope or cable is adapted topass. By suitably raising or lowering the level of the running cablewith relation to the skip or the like and its rollers, such cable eitherleaves the space between the rollers and thus leaves the skip free or isdepressed into gripping relation With the rollers and carries the skipforward.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate oneconvenient form of apparatus constructed according to the invention,Figure 1 is an end elevation of an intermediate supporting standard, andFig. 2 a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic plan ofthe arrangement of tracks at the loading point, Figs. 4 and 5 are detailplan and elevation respectively of the switch, Fig. 6 is a detail planof part of the loading anddespatching mechanism, Fig. 6 is a detail planof the remainder thereof, Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the loading anddespatching mechanism looking in the direction of the arrow X, Fig. 6,Fig. 7 is a side elevation, looking in the same direction, of the meansfor driving the loading mechanism, Fig. 8 is an end elevation of themechanism shown in Fig. 6, viewed in the direction of the arrow Y, Fig.8 is an end view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 6, viewed in thedirection of the arrow Z and, Fig. 9 is a detail elevation of thetilting rail portion upon which the skip or the like is supported duringits filling operation. Figs. 10 and 11 are elevation and plan viewsrespectively of one form of grip for the haulage cable.

Duplicate wires 60 and b, are employed for the outgoing full skips andthe returning empty skips, respectively, in the usual way, each skip orbucket, 0, being provided with a jockey having grooved wheels, andsemicir cular tracks being provided at the ends of the apparatus todivert the skips from the outgoing to the returning wires and viceversa. The skips hang below and are provided with bottom doors fordischarging their contents which may be opened and closed by anysuitable means and at any desired point or points along the track. Eachjockey is provided with a gripper, (Z, in which the running cable, 6,normally lies.

The sections of the fixed wire or rope, a and t) are placed oversupporting pulleys or guides f, on the portable standards, g, and thetwo ends on each intermediate standard are preferably connected to thesame winch, it, through the medium of a shackle, 7t and ropes 7L2, sothat when applying the tension the two sections of rope aresimultaneously raised and thus assist in keeping the standard inequilibrium.

I have found that the fixed ropes a and b, may be conveniently arrangedin two-span lengths and in each standard, g, the tension applied only toone set of ropes. Thus the fifth standard say, may tension the returningrope, b, the sixth standard. the outgoing rope, a, and so on alternatelyright and left. Each standard, is preferably constructed. of bracedangle irons secured to a tanklike base, i, mounted. on wheels and intosuch tanks sand or rock ballast may be placed, if necessary, to givestability. The apparatus for loading the skips, 0, may be placed at anypoint along the rope and at this point the skips are caused to leave themain line, co, and run on to a branch line, m, which guides the skipsback to the main line, a, after being loaded. The branch line or track,m, is further divided into as many sub-branches as there are loadinghoppers. Thus for two loading hoppers, as shown in the drawings, thebranch line is divided into two parts a and 0, arranged in parallel andeach hop per 2) and q, is adapted to load the skips which are divertedto its corresponding subbranch. The mechanism I employ for diverting theskips to the ditferent hoppers and which forms an important feature ofthe invention is as follows :-Each skip or bucket when it leaves themain track, a, approaches and runs on to a switch rail, 1, pivoted orsupported so as to move through a suitable angle and operated by themomentum of the approaching skip as will now be described. The switch issuspended by hangers, s, from a plate, 25, pivoted to the framework atu, and is provided with two rail portions, 12, and w, adapted toregister at one end with the rails 91 and 0 respectively and at theother end with the rail, m. The forward wheel, of the skip when itadvances along the rail, 4), say of the switch, 1, is opposed, as shownin Fig. 4, by a fixed rail or bar, at, which causes a reaction betweenthe wheel and the bar, and the wheel and the rail so as to produce alateral pressure which causes the switch to rotate about its pivot, 11and bring the rail, 12, into alinement with the sub-branch line, it,upon which the skip is to be delivered. This motion. throws the otherend of the rail, 1/, out of alinernent with the rail, m, and brings therail, to, into alinoment therewith. The next skip will run onto therail, w, and acting in a similar manner to that above described againstthe rail, y, reverses the switch and runs on to the other sub-branchline, 0. Thus each skip passes to the opposite loading hopper to that ofthe preceding skip.

It will be understood that, as an extension of the manner of divertingthe skips, either or both of the aforesaid sub-branches, o, n. could befurther subdivided whereby either three or four hoppers could beemployed.

Each hopper chute, 2 and I3, is automatically set in operation, to loadthe skip, by the approach of the skip, preferably by mechanism such asdescribed in the spot-itication of my concurrent application.

Owing to the momentum of the ships bring utilized to operate the switch,r, they advance to the filling hoppers p and at a slow speed and theyare finally brought to rest boneath the hoppers by means of interposedstops 4. After a skip has been :[illed and roleased it runs down aninclinedv rail, 5, and rejoins the branch, or, and then the main line,a. W 1011 a skip leaves the main line, (1, the haulage rope or cable, 0,is automat ically detached, as hereinafter more particularly described,from its gripper, (Z, and when rcjoining the main line, a, the haulagerope is automatically gripped again. Between these points the skip ispropelled up to the loading point by the momentum imparted by the rope,c, or by inclining the rail, if desired and after leaving the loadingpoint, by the momentum imparted by gravity on an inclined pivoted rail,7, and the further inclined rail 5. By this device it will be observedthat a skip rejoins the main line. a, at a lower level and therefore areadjustment of the level of the haulage or running rope. 0,

becomes necessary. To accomplish this tl c ordinary form of intermediatestandard, which is provided with two side pulleys, S and 9, for theoutrunning and in-runnin g portions of the rope, a, respectively, isreplaced by a special form of standard It), partially shown in Fig. 7This standard is a rrangod at about the middle of the side or branchline or track and is provided, on one side, with upper and lower guidepulleys, l1 and 12, for the out-running haulage line a. pers, (Z, on theskips are adapted to be rrndered operative or inoperative by thelowering or raising of the haulage rope, c, rolat ively thereto andconsequently the upper guide pulley, 11., is arranged at such a heightthat the running rope, c, is caused to leave the gripper just before itsskip enters the side track, m. The running rope after passing over thisupper pulley descends almost vort ically to the lower guide pulley, 12which is arranged at such a height as to pick up the grippers just asthe skip reaches the main line, (1, again or thereabouts. The rotationof the lower guide pulley, 12, is preferably employed to drive theshaft, 13, through gearing The grip- I Lit 14, such shaft actuating themechanism for automatically loadingand despatching the skips. Thegearing, 14, drives the shaft, 13, through a flexible telescopicsection, 13, so

I that it is not necessary for the standard, 10,

to be brought into a perfectly accurate posi tion. The fixed ropecorresponding to the above described portion of the haulage rope, viz:the fixed rope, a, on which the out-going full skips run, is alsosuitably adjusted in level by having its adjacent ends, 15 and 16, (seeFig. 3) connected at the proper heights to the special form ofintermediate standard, 10. The mechanism for automatically loading anddespatching the skips is driven by the motion shaft, 13, on which isarranged a separate operating cam, 17, or like device for each chute,such shaft, 13, being coupled up in several lengths by flexiblecouplings, 13, when necessary. Each cam, 17, or like device is renderedoperative by means of linkage actuated by the corresponding a proachingskip, as fully described in t 1e afore-mentioned specification, but inorder that two skips, if approaching almost simultaneously, shall not bedespatched simultaneously and thereby foul each other at the returnjunction of m, with the main line, interlocking gear is provided toprevent simultaneous operation of the two chutes, 2 and 3. Thisinterlocking gear acts in the following manner :-VVhen one skip advancesinto loading position, on the line, n, say, and by contact with a lever,19, sets the correspond ing loading mechanism into action and a secondskip following closely is switched to the adjacent chute, 2, on theline, 0, such second skip also contacts with and operates itscorresponding lever, 20. A locking red, 21, (see Figs. 6 and 6) has inthe meantime however been actuated by the chute, 3, mechanism positivelypreventing movement of the chute 2 mechanism.

The arrangement of this interlocking mechanism is, more particularly, asfollows: Upon the vertical shafts, 22 and 23, are fixed levers, 24 and25, hereinafter called the locking levers, which are connected by atelescopic locking rod, 21. This rod is adapted to freely extend butcannot shorten beyond a minimum length. Further, when either of thelocking levers, 24, 25, is actuated by the skip-operated mechanism it isitself locked in position by a catch, 26, pivoted at 27. These catches,26, are released at the correct time by means of triggers, 28, pivotallymounted at 32 on the substantially vertical rods, 29, actuated by thecam levers, 30. The operation of this interlocking gear is as follows:-W hen a skip comes to rest beneath chute, 3, the arm, 19, is actuatedto throw into operation the cam mechanism of such chute. Incidentallythe vertical shaft, 22, is rocked and the lever, 24, moved over so as toshorten the rod, 21, to its minimum length and the corresponding catch,26, drops into position, locking the lever, 24, against backwardmovement. It is impossible now for the lever, 25, to be moved forwardand therefore if a skip comes under chute, 2, it will operate the arm,20, to merely compress the spring, 31. Upon the loading operation fromchute, 3, being completed its cam actuated lever, 30, is raised and,through the corresponding rod, 29, actuates the trigger, 28, andreleases the catch, The chute, 3, mechanism now returns to normalposition and the chute 2 mechanism is free to be operated. Theinterlocking gear is similarly actuated when a skip comes under chute 2first, to prevent actuation of chute, 3. By means of this interlockingmechanism the departing skips are automatically spaced at suitableintervals along the rope. By thus arranging several hoppers and chutes alarge surface is provided for throwing the material into the hoppers, apoint which is of great convenience when the hoppers are being manuallyfilled and moreover, a considerable saving of time is effected by therapidity with which the actuation of the chutes may be adapted to followone another. A deflection plate, 37, is provided in each hopper toscreen the material from the chute opening so as to avoid jamming of thematerial.

A further and important feature of the invention is the means by whichthe automatic releasing and gripping of the haulage cable, e, iseffected. This device consists of a pair of rollers, 33, and 34, (seeFig. 7 arranged on the skip or the like in a suitable position to beengaged by the haulage cable and suitably shaped or tilted to form aV-shaped grip for the cable. The rollers may be conical and mounted uponparallel spindles as shown, such spindles being vertical as shown inFig. 7 or inclined as shown in Figs. 10 and 11. It is not necessary forthe spindles to be parallel, however, since they may be outwardly orinwardly inclined and their conical slope altered to suit. The rollers33 and 34, may also be concentric or slightly eccentric and may alsohave plain or serrated surfaces as desired. Further the rollers may becylindrical and have their axes inclined so that their adjacent surfacesare inclined for the same purpose.

The haulage cable, a, is released or gripped merely by raising andlowering its level relatively to the rollers, 33 and 34. When the rope,e, is lowered down between the rollers its weight rests upon and rotatesthem until the friction of the revolving surfaces is so great as tofirmly grip the cable. The conical rollers, 33 and 34 are preferably, toassist in this gripping action, inclined with their upper or smallerends toward the direction in which the cable, e is running. Upon &

raising the level of the cable or rope the rollers first revolveslightly in reverse direction and the cable, which was firmly gripped,leaves the grip or with very slight efi'ort. The running cable, 6, isbrought back onto guide rollers 8 and 9, after a skip passes thecorresponding standard 9, by means of guides, 35, as shown in Fig. 1.

It will be understood that the various details of the improved conveyingapparatus, as herein described, may be modified without departing fromthe spirit of the invention and also that the apparatus may be employedfor conveying any kind of material from one point to another. It has,however been found particularly adapted for conveying the excavatedmaterial when cutting canals and the like, to a considerable distanceover irregular country. It will also be understood that the variousfeatures of the invention are applicable to other forms of conveyor thanthe form particularly described herein and that some of such featuresmay be employed without the others.

Having now described my invention, what I desire to secure by LettersPatent is 1. Conveying apparatus comprising a receptacle for thematerial to be conveyed, a cable composed of comparatively short lengthsupon which said receptacle is adapted to run, portable standards towhich the adjacent ends of said lengths are secured, and means forsimultaneously tensioning said adjacent ends.

2. Conveying apparatus comprising a receptacle for the material to beconveyed, a cable composed of comparatively short lengths upon whichsaid receptacle is adapted to run, portable standards each provided witha winch, and means operated by each of said winches for simultaneouslytensioning the adjacent ends of said lengths.

3. Conveying apparatus comprising a receptacle for the material to beconveyed, a cable composed of comparatively short lengths upon whichsaid receptacle is adapted to run, portable standards for supporting theadjacent ends of said lengths, connecting members to which said adjacentends are rigidly secured and means, mounted on said standards, foradjusting said connecting members so as to simultaneously tension saidadjacent ends.

4. Conveying apparatus comprising a receptacle for the material to beconveyed, a cable composed of comparatively short lengths, upon whichsaid receptacle is adapted to run when loaded, a similar cable, arrangedparallel to the first mentioned cable, upon which said receptacle isadapted to run when empty, portable standards for supporting saidcables, means for simultaneously tensioning the adjacent ends of one ofsaid cables upon some of the standards, and means for simultaneouslytensioning the adjacent ends of the other other of the standards.

5. Conveying apparatus comprising a plurality of receptacles for thematerial to be conveyed, a fixed track along which said receptacles areadapted to run, a plurality of hoppers adjacent a loading point 011 saidtrack, means for automatically guiding said receptacles to said hoppersin succession, means for automatically loading said receptacles fromsaid hoppers, and means for despatching the loaded receptacles alongsaid track.

6. Conveying apparatus comprising a plurality ol' receptacles for thematerial to be conveyed, a fixed track along which said receptacles areadapted to run, a plurality of hoppers adjacent a loading point on saidtrack, a switch adjacent said loading point, andmeans whereby areceptacle approaching one 01' the hoppers operates said switch todivert the next following receptacle to a difi'erent hopper.

7. Conveying apparatus comprising a plurality of receptacles for thematerial to be conveyed, a fixed track along which said receptacles areadapted to run, a plurality of hoppers adjacent a loading point on saidtrack, means for automatically guiding said receptacles to said hoppersin succession, means for automatically loading said receptacles fromsaid hoppers, and means for pre venting the automatic loading means ofone hopper from operating while the loading means of an other hopper isin operation.

8. Conveying apparatus comprising a plurality of receptacles for thematerial to be conveyed, a fixed track along which said receptacles areadapted to run, a plurality of hoppers adjacent a loading point on saidtrack, a switch adjacent said loading point, means whereby a receptacleapproaching one of the hoppers operates said switch to divert the nextfollowing receptacle to a diilerent hopper, and means for automaticallydesp atching the lo ad ed receptacles along the track.

9. Conveying apparatus comprising a plurality of receptacles for thematerial to be conveyed, a fixed track along which said receptacles areadapted to run, a plurality of hoppers adjacent a loading point on saidtrack, means 'for automatically guiding said receptacles to said hoppersin succession, means for automatically loading said receptacles fromsaid hoppers, means for preventing the automatic loading means of onehopper from operating while the loading means of another hopper is inoperation, and means for automatically despatching the loaded receptacles along the track.

10. Conveying apparatus comprising a plurality of receptacles for thematerial to be conveyed, a fixed track along which said receptacles areadapted to run, a plurality of of said cables upon hoppers adjacent aloading point on said track, a switch adjacent said loading point, meanswhereby a receptacle, while passing over said switch, contacts directlywith a fixed member to cause the oscillation of the switch and therebydivert the next following receptacle to a different hopper.

11. Conveying a paratus comprising a plurality of receptac es for thematerial to be conveyed, a fixed track along which said receptacles areadapted to run, a plurality of hoppers adjacent a loading point on saidtrack, a switch adjacent said loading point, means whereby a receptacle,while passing over said switch, contacts directly with a fixed member tocause the oscillation of the switch and thereby divert the nextfollowing receptacle to a different hopper, and means for preventing theautomatic loading means of one hopper from operating while the loadingmeans of another hopper is in operation.

12. Conveying apparatus comprising a plurality of receptacles for thematerial to be conveyed, a fixed track along which said receptacles areadapted to run, a plurality of hoppers adjacent a loading point on saidtrack, a switch adjacent said loading point, means whereby a receptacle,while passing over said switch, contacts directly with a fixed member tocause the oscillation of the switch and thereby divert the nextfollowing receptacle to a di'fierent hopper, means for preventing theautomatic loading means of one hopper from operating while the load ingmeans of another hopper is in operation,

and means for automatically despatching the loaded receptacles along thetrack.

13. Conveying apparatus comprising a receptacle for the material to beconveyed, a fixed track along which said receptacle is adapted to run, acontinuously moving cable, and means for gripping said cable to saidreceptacle consisting of a pair of rollers having conical surfaces andmounted to rotate on parallel axes coincident with the axes of saidconical surfaces.

14. Conveying apparatus comprising a receptacle for the material to beconveyed, a fixed track along which said receptacle is adapted to run, acontinuously moving cable, and means for gripping said cable to saidreceptacle consisting of a pair of rollers having conical surfaces andmounted to rotate on parallel axes coincident with the axes of saidconical surfaces, said axes being inclined so that the small diameter ofthe rollers points toward the direction in which the cable moves.

15. Conveying apparatus comprising a receptacle for the material to beconveyed, a fixed track along which said receptacle is adapted to run, acontinuously moving cable, and means for gripping said cable consistingof a pair of rollers arranged so that their adjacent surfaces form atapered space which is inclined so that the wider part of said space isadvanced toward the direction in which the cable runs.

16. Conveying apparatus comprising a plurality of receptacles for thematerial to to be conveyed, a fixed main track along which saidreceptacles are adapted to run, a plurality of hoppers arranged onseparate branches of the main track, means for automatically guidingsaid receptacles ofi the main track to said hoppers in succession, meansfor automatically loading said receptacles'from said hop ers, and meansfor returning said receptac es one at a time, on to the main track.

17. Conveying apparatus comprising a receptacle for the material to beconveyed, a fixed track along which said receptacle is adapted to run, acontinuously moving cable, means for disconnecting and connecting saidreceptacle from and. to said cable for each loading operation, astationary hopperfor the reception of the material to be conveyed, meansfor automatically loading said receptacle from said stationary hopper,anc means actuated by said cable for operating the loading means.

18. Conveying apparatus comprising a plurality of receptacles for thematerial to be conveyed, a fixed track along which said receptacles areadapted to run, a plurality of hoppers arranged on separate branches ofthe main track, a continuously running cable, means for connecting saidcable to said receptacles, means for automatically disconnecting saidcable from each of said receptacles as it approaches a hopper, means forautomatically guiding said receptacles off the main track to saidhoppers in succession, means for automatically stopping and loading saidreceptacles from said hoppers, and means for returning said receptacles,one at a time, onto the main track.

19. Conveying apparatus comprising a plurality of receptacles for thematerial to be conveyed, a fixed track along which said receptacles areadapted to run, a plurality of hoppers adjacent a loading point on saidtrack means for automatically guiding said receptacle to said hoppers insuccession, means for automatically loading said receptacles from saidhoppers, and means for preventing the automatic loading means of onehopper from operating while the loading means of another hopper is inoperation consisting of levers adapted to be normally moved when thecorresponding loading means is set in operation, a telescopic rodadapted to close to a minimum length when one of said levers is moved,means for locking said moved lever in position, and means for releasingsaid locking means when the loading operation is complete.

20. Conveying apparatus comprising a plufor automatically loading andrestarting said rality of receptacles for the material to be receptaclesin succession. conveyed, a fixed main track along which In testimonywhereof I have signed my said receptacles are adapted to run, a plunameto this specification in. the presence of 5 rality of hoppers arrangedon separate two subscribing Witnesses. 15

branches of the main track, means for autol Dated this 11th day ofSeptember, 1907. matically guiding said receptacles oil the JOHNASHFO'HD.

main track to said hoppers 1n succession, lVitnesses: means forautomatically arresting said re- C. J. MALLER, 10 ceptacles beneath saidhoppers, and means A. R. MILES.

